1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method for operating a front-loading washing machine with a washing aggregate consisting of a tub holding a rotatably-mounted drum suspended in the machine housing so as to be able to oscillate with a midaxis descending from front to back and equipped with an imbalance sensor that changes the rotation of the drum by means of a control program when an imbalance occurs in the spin cycle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a front-loading washing machine of this kind as a result of the physical laws of gravity and centrifugal force an asymmetrical imbalance occurs at a specific point precisely when the laundry loads are small. In an inclined washing aggregate the small amount of laundry always travels to the back and bottom of the drum above all during the spin cycle and collects there at the lowest point. Due to the laws of leverage, the bearing load is less when imbalances occur here at the rear of the drum, i.e., in the immediate vicinity of the drum bearing, than is the case for imbalances occurring at the front loading area of the washing aggregate. In addition to this, during the spin cycle run-up in a washing aggregate that is inclined, a small amount of laundry is better distributed along the rear wall of the drum, i.e., the laundry is more advantageously pulled apart. This also has a positive effect on the imbalance behavior; at the least the degree of imbalance is reduced.
The problem of the invention is to improve spin results by creating a method for operating a front-loading washing machine of the above-mentioned type that in simple way takes optimal maximum advantage of the better imbalance conditions that occur with small loads of sensitive laundry such as wash-and-wears, delicates, wools and hand-washables.
This problem is solved according to the invention in that when the washing drum is loaded with laundry with a preset optimum filling amount, the weight and the absorbency of the loaded laundry is determined, and in that up to a preset weight of 150% of the optimum filling amount and up to an absorbency of 150% of the optimum filling amount the imbalance sensor and its effects on the control program are disabled and the laundry in the drum is spun at a maximum preset speed.
When the drum is loaded with sensitive laundry, the optimum filling amount must be taken into account, which loads to improved imbalance conditions. It is then possible to achieve operating conditions in which the spin cycle can be run at maximum speed without activating the imbalance sensor. In the process the preset values for the weight of the loaded laundry and its absorbency are the decisive factor and are used to select whether to operate the spin cycle with or without activation of the imbalance sensor, and thus whether the imbalance sensor influences or does not influence the control program. The determined settings load to an optimizing of the spin results without overloading the drum through the occurrenced imbalances. The settings are based on and adapted to both the capacity of the drum (in dry laundry) and tested and recommended optimum filling amounts for the various laundry types.